OAKLAND (KCBS) – Now that Oakland’s labor unions have tentatively agreed to concessions, it appears that the city may look to rehire a number of laid-off police officers.

On Tuesday night, the Oakland City Council decided to wait until Thursday at the earliest to approve a budget package, and a worst-case all-cuts budget appears to be off the table. However, with tentative give-backs from police officers, firefighters and other city workers, a plan has emerged to rehire 44 officers who were laid off during last year’s budget cuts.

”We believe this is a really cost-effective proposal,” said Councilwoman Libby Schaaf. “We have invested a lot of money into the hiring and training of these officers.”

Still, Councilmember Ignacio De La Fuente said he has concerns about long term funding for emergency services.

KCBS’ Chris Filippi Reports:

”Many, many months, if not years, we’ve been talking about the fact that police and fire are 72 percent of the budget and we have used many excuses and many reasons why we can’t change that,” said De La Fuente.

Police and fire unions have agreed to several concessions, including raising the retirement age, and lowering benefits for new hires.

The proposed give-backs appear to have killed an older budget proposal that would have closed 14 out of 18 Oakland libraries.

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